Record-changing device for talking machines



Nov. 6, 1953 L. THEVENAZ I 2,574,071

RECORD-CHANGING DEVICE FOR TALKING MACHINES Filed May 17, 1945 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 .Tjz/e v 8.22/0/2 Nev. 6, 1953 L. THEVENAZ 2,574,071

RECORD-CHANGING DEVICE FOR TALKING MACHINES Filed May 1'7, 1945 2 SHEETS--SHEET 2 Patented Nov. 6, 1951 RECORD-CHANGING DEVICE FOR TALKING MACHINES Louis Thvenaz, Les Rasses, near Sainte Croix, Switzerland, assignor to Hermann 'Thorens Socit Anonyme, Sainte Croix, Switzerland, a

firm of Switzerland Application May 17, 1945, Serial No. 594,340 a In Switzerland July 11, 1944 Claims.

At the termination of the playing of a record by the tone arm, the needle enters the final groove of increasing pitch which imparts to the tone arm the sudden swing necessary to engage with the motor the control mechanism' of the record-changing cycle; the term cycle will designate in the following specification and claims, the whole of the operations of the record-changing and tone arm mechanism which are necessary to bring a record and the tone arm into playing position, in which position this mechanism is disengaged again from the motor. This cycle comprises in the present case the following movements: the tone arm is first raised above the record which has beenplayed and then displaced towards the outside of the turntable; the push member of the record supporting spindle is then actuated and the lowermost record of the stack drops into the turn table; the pick-up is then brought, back inwardly and. after having resumed its position over the first groove of the record, it is lowered to engage the record.

.This cycle is of a relatively short duration with respect to the playing duration of a record, generally of a few seconds only; there are'known so-called pause devices adapted to increase this duration. Those devices stop up the cycle during a certain lapse of time b completely disengaging its control member from the motor during this whole lapse of time.

This invention relates to a record-changing device with pause mechanism. According to a feature of the invention a speed change gear is provided between the motor and the cycle control member, this speed change gear being adapted to change automatically the duration of the cycle by running a part at least of this cycle at a reduced mean speed. I

The speed change gear maybe of thetoothed or of thefriction type; it may intervene'at any desired part of the cycle, for instance at the beginning thereof, during the outward back movement of the pick-up; it maybe a single or a multiple speed change gear; it may be combined with a device enabling it to be put out of service at any moment before or during its operation. a I

The. annexed drawing represents, by .way of example, one convenient construction of a pinion 6.

2 of the cycle by means of a speed reducing gear and a step by step mechanism.

Fig. l is a plan view thereof, the turntable being removed;

Fig. 2 is a section through the broken line IIII of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view similar to Fig. 1 in a different position, and

Fig. 4 is a section similar to Fig. 2 in the position of Fig. 3.

In the drawing, I and 2 designate the upper and lower plates of theframe supporting the pause mechanism; 3 is the driving shaft of the turntable and 4 the spindle of the multiple cam 5 which constitutes the control member of the cycle; this control member is held idle while a face of a record is being played but it is actuated by the driving shaft 3 from the termination of this playing'to the beginning of the playing of the following record face by a toothed transmission gear adapted for automatic engagement and disengagement.

, On the driving shaft 3 is secured a toothed On the spindle 4 of the cam 5 are mounted two gears l and 8 of equal large diameter, arranged in closed superposition. The upper gear I is secured on the spindle 4 while thelower gear 8 runs loose on this spindle. The upper gear 1 is provided with a toothed sector I raised by fianging onto a higher plane than the remainder of its toothing. 9 designates a lever pivoted about a pin Ill fastened to the upper plate I against the lower face of which the lever 9 is arranged. The lever 9 carries on its lower face a pin ll about which runs loosely a reversing pinion [2 whose toothing has a pitch corresponding to the pitches of the gears l and 8 and of the pinion 6 and a sufficient thickness to enable it to simultaneously mesh with both the gears 1 and 8, but for the length of the raised sector 1' of the upper gear 7. The lever 9 carries further, on its upper face, a pin I3 adapted to co-operate through a hole 28 of the plate I with a stop surface M of a bell crank l4 pivoted about a pin I5 fastened to the upper plate I, against the action of a'restoring spring I6. The lever 9 is swingingly arranged so that its reversing pinion l2 meshes constantly with the gears 1 and 8 and may be engaged with or disengaged from the pinion 6 according to the position of the .bell crank I 4. When the pinion l2 meshes with the pinion 6, the movement of the driving shaft 3 is transmitted at reduced speed by the gears l and 8 to the cam '5 that the pinion I! is enabled to rrie'shjeithiei. simultaneously with both the gears I and ,8 "or. only with the upper gear I. The lower end of the pin [8 rests on a cup-shaped portion [9 of a bell crank pivoted about a pin 29 and corinected through a link 2| hinged on the pins 3| and 32 with a crank arm carrying a control knob 22. Owing to the inclined plane of the cup l9, the pinion I! may be raised by the bell. crank 20 against the action of a spring 23 held against the upper end of the pin l8. In its normal position shown in Fig. 4, the pinion lI meshes with both the gears! and 8; on the contrary, in the position of Fig. 2, the pin IB'is raised by the bell crank 20 and the pinion II does no more mesh with the loose running lower gear 8. On the pin I8 is further secured, below the pinion II, a star wheel 24 adapted to co-operateyin the raised position of the pin I8 (Fig. 2) with a' resilient pawl 25 fastened to the lower face of the loose running lower gear 8.

The upper gear I carries on its upper face a pin 26 adapted to co-operate, at each complete revolution of thisgear driven with the cam 5, with a pin 21 carried by the lever 9 to disengage the pinion I2 from the driving pinion 6 as shown in Fig.3. R V

The operation of the mechanism described and shown is as follows: During the playing of a record face, the bell crank I4 holds, by its stop surface I4 co-operating with the pin I3, the lever 9' in the position shown in Fig.3 in which the reversing pinion l2, which is in constant gearing relation'with the gears I. andB, does not mesh with the driving pinion B. The multiple cam 5 dependent in rotation upon the gear I remains thus idle. At the termination of the playing, the sudden inward swing imparted to the tone arm by the final groove'of the record causes, by means of a known automatic stopping device (not shown), the anti-clockwise rotation of the bell crank l4 which releases the pin I3}. the lever 9, actuated b thespring I6 is brought into the position of Fig. 1 in which the reversing pinion I2 meshes with the driving pinion 6; The movement of the pinion 6 is thus transmitted to the upper gear I and through the latter to the cam 5 which controls the cycle of the record-changing device. This cycle is performed duringone whole revolution of the cam 5. The duration of this complete revolution of the cam is determined by the gear ratio between the driving pinion 6 and the gear I. This duration is normal when the pause mechanism controlled by the knob 22 is'not in action, that is when the movement of the driving pinion 6 is transmitted directly through the pinion- I2 to the upper gear 1. Even when the axially ime movable reversing pinion I2 fronts the elevated toothed sector I of .the gear I withwhich it cannot mesh, the movement is transmitted at the same speed through the loose running 'lower gear 8 and, the pinion II which (meshes simultaneously with both. the gears. I and 8. The whole operates as if thegears! and 8 would 4 action by turning the knob 22 in an anticlockwise direction, the members of the mechanism take up, when the pinion I2 is brought in front ofthe toothed sector I, the position shown in the Figs. 1 and 2. The bell crank 20 is turned in a clockwise direction under the action of the link 2| and raises by means of the inclined surface of its cup .,I9 the pin 18 which carries the pinion I! and the star wheel 24. The pinion I! does no longer mesh with the lower gear 8, but thestar wheeli24v is brought into the path of the outer end of the resilient pawl 25 which is fastened to this lower gear 8. At every revolution of the gear 8, which meshes alone with the reversing pinion 12, the pin I8 is turned one step and moves through a corresponding angular value the upper gear I which meshes with the pinion I! but not with the pinion 12. Thus, while the elevated toothed sector I fronts the pinion l2, the movement of this latter is transmitted step bystep through the gear 8, .the pawl 25, the starwheel 24, the pinion I] and the gear I to the cam 5 which controls the cycle. The cycle is thus not stopped at all but proceeds ata reduced mean speed for a predetermined angular displacement of the spindle 4 of the cam 5.

As an alternative,'for disengaging the upper gear I from the pinion I2, asector I without toothing may be provided; however, the construction' described above and shown in the drawings presents the advantage that as the second pinion [I constantly meshes with the gear I, even in front o f'the elevated toothed sector I, any danger of canting of the'pinion I! with the end of a toothless sector avoided.

Also in order to avoid its cantingwith the star wheel 24, the pawl 25 is a leaf spring.

In order to stop the slow running of the cycle when the sector I faces the pinion [2, it will be sufiicient to turn the knob 22 in a clockwise direction, whereby the pin I8 and it pinion I! will be lowered; this latter meshes thus once more with the lower gear 8 and rotates the upper gear I at the normaljspeeg of the cycle.

The fraction of, the cycle whichis; to be, run at, a'reduced mean speed in order to obtain a pause of definitive duration maybechosen at will; it depends upon the situation of the sector I with respect to the cam; .Inthe construction described and shown, the'sectohlf is arranged so that the slackening of the cycle occurs from the, termination of the raising movement of the pick-up over the record which has been played and during the outward displacement of the pick-up. Oneavoids this manner that the pause occursbefore playing ofthe first record after starting of the changing device; this peculiar arrangement permits also, during the pause, to put into action a repetition device of themeorcl which has. been played, what would not be possible if the pause would" become effective after the movements controlling the dropping on whereby any untimely releasing is" avoided.

constitute a single gear with continuous tooth- The duration of the pause may be changed according to the length of the sector I, the arm numberof the star wheel 25 .or the number of the pawls 25. A pause device with severai speeds may also be provided, for instance by securing on the sliding pin l8 a plurality of superposed star wheels having each a different number of arms.

What I claim is:

1. In a talking machine with record changing device of the kind having a mechanism for driving from a continuously rotating element a main shaft adapted to rotate through a predetermined angle for each record changing operation and having two coupling members, the first being part of the continuously rotating element, the second being brought into engagement with the first one at the end of each audition of a record face and remaining engaged therewith until, at the end of the process of record changing and for a predetermined angular position of the main shaft, disengaging means are brought into action, in combination, a first speed reducing gear between said second coupling member and said main shaft to drive the latter at a first determined speed, a second speed reducinggear between the same elements to drive said main shaft, during a part at least of its angular displacement, at a mean speed substantially smaller than said first speed, means controlled by said main shaft to successively put into action said first and second speed reducing gears during the record changing process and for predetermined angular positions of said main shaft, manually operable means being provided for rendering said second mentioned gear inoperative and to drive said main shaft at the first determined speed during the whole process of record changmg.

2. In a talking machine with record changing device of the kind having a mechanism for driving from a continuously rotating element a main shaft adapted to rotate through a predetermined angle for each record changing operation and having two coupling members, the first being part of the continuously rotating element, the second being brought into engagement with the first one at the end of each audition of a record face and remaining engaged therewith until, at the end of the process of record changing and for a predetermined angular position of the main shaft, disengaging means are brought into action, in combination, a first speed reducing gear between said second coupling member and said main shaft to drive the latter at a first determined speed, a second speed reducing gear between the same elements to drive said main shaft, during a part at least of its angular displacement, at a mean speed substantially smaller than said first speed, means controlled by said main shaft to drive it during a definite angular displacement through the first mentioned speed reducing gear and during another definite angular displacement through the second mentioned speed reducing gear, manually operable means being provided for rendering said second mentioned gear inoperative and to drive said main shaft through said first mentioned speed reducing gear during the whole angular displacement of the main shaft controlling the process of record changing.

3. In a talking machine with record changing device of the kind having a mechanism for driving from a continuously rotating element a main shaft adapted to rotate through a predetermined V constantly meshing with the reversing pinion, a

second gear fixedly secured on the main shaft, first means for driving said second gear from said first gear at the same speed, second means for driving said second gear from said first gear through a predetermined angular displacement at a mean speed substantially smaller, third means automatically controlling the first and second mentioned means to put them successively into action for predetermined angular positions of the main shaft and manually operable means for rendering said third means inoperative, the first mentioned means then remaining in action during the Whole process of record changing.

4. In a talking machine with record changing device, in combination a main shaft adapted to rotate through a predetermined angle for each record changing operation, a first gear loosely mounted on said main shaft, a second gear equal in diameter fixed on said main shaft over said first gear and having a toothed sector raised above the general plane of the toothing, a reversing pinion automatically coupling said first gear with a continuously rotating element at the end of each audition of a record face, said reversing pinion meshing also with said second gear but when facing said raised toothed sector thereof, a sliding pinion adapted to mesh either simultaneously with both said first and second gears or with said second gear only, a star wheel dependent upon said sliding pinion, at least one pawl fastened to said first gear for driving said star wheel through at least one step at every revolution of said first gear when said sliding pinion is in said second meshing position, and manually operable control means for displacing said sliding pinion into said second meshing position to cause the cycle control cam to be driven at reduced mean speed when said reversing pinion fronts the raised toothed sector of said second gear.

5. In a talking machine with record changer, the combination as claimed in claim 4 wherein the manually operable control means for displacing the sliding pinion comprises a bell crank having an inclined plane cooperating with the end of the shaft of said pinion.

LOUIS THEVENAZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: V

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 632,536 Parkhurst Sept. 5, 1899 2,313,193 Delchef Mar. 9, 1943 

